David Bowie stars in Nagisa Oshima's 1983 Palme d'Or-nominated portrait of resilience, pride, friendship and obsession among four very different men confined in the stifling jungle heat ...
Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
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Description
David Bowie stars in Nagisa Oshima's 1983 Palme d'Or-nominated portrait of resilience, pride, friendship and obsession among four very different men confined in the stifling jungle heat of a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp in Java during World War II. In 1942, British officer Major Jack Celliers (Bowie) is captured by Japanese soldiers, and after a brutal trial sent, physically debilitated but indomitable in mind, to a POW camp overseen by the zealous Captain Yonoi (Ryuichi Sakamoto). Celliers' stubbornness sees him locked in a battle of wills with the camp's new commandant, a man obsessed with discipline and the glory of Imperial Japan who becomes unnaturally preoccupied with the young Major, while Lieutenant Colonel Lawrence (Tom Conti), the only inmate with a degree of sympathy for Japanese culture and an understanding of the language, attempts to bridge the divide through his friendship with Yonoi's second-in-command, Sergeant Hara (Takeshi Kitano), a man possessing a surprising degree of compassion beneath his cruel façade. Produced by Jeremy Thomas (The Last Emperor, The Sheltering Sky), it was the first English-language film by Oshima (Death by Hanging, In the Realm of the Senses, Gohatto), a leading light of Japanese New Wave cinema, and provided breakthrough big-screen roles for comedian Takeshi Kitano and musician Ryuichi Sakamoto, who also composed the film's hauntingly memorable BAFTA-winning score. This powerful wartime drama was adapted from Laurens van der Post's autobiographical novel 'The Seed and the Sower' (1963) by screenwriter Paul Mayersberg (The Man Who Fell to Earth).
Cast and crew
-
Nagisa Ôshima
Director, Writer -
David Bowie
Celliers -
Tom Conti
Lawrence -
Ryuichi Sakamoto
Yonoi -
Takeshi Kitano
Hara -
Jack Thompson
Hicksley -
Johnny Ohkura
Kanemoto -
Alistair Browning
De Jong -
James Malcolm
Celliers' Brother -
Chris Broun
Celliers 12 Years -
Yûya Uchida
Commandant of Military Prison -
Ryûnosuke Kaneda
President of the Court -
Takashi Naitô
Lieutenant Iwata -
Tamio Ishikura
Prosecutor -
Rokkô Toura
Interpreter -
Kan Mikami
Lieutenant Ito -
Yûji Honma
PFC Yajima -
Daisuke Iijima
Corporal Ueki -
Hideo Murota
New Commandant of Camp -
Barry Dorking
Chief Doctor -
Geoff Clendon
Australian Doctor -
Grant Bridger
P.O.W. Officer -
Richard Adams
P.O.W. -
Geoff Allen
P.O.W. -
Michael Baxter-Lax
P.O.W. -
Mark Berg
P.O.W. -
Paul Mayersberg
Writer -
Lourens van der Post
Writer
Additional information
Directors
Nagisa ÔshimaDirectors
Subtitles
English (CC)Subtitles
Released year
1983Released year
Genres
DramaGenres
Writers
Nagisa ÔshimaPaul Mayersberg
Lourens van der Post
Writers
Paul Mayersberg
Lourens van der Post
Size
6.88 GB (1080p HD)4.3 GB (720p HD)
3.44 GB (SD)
Size
4.3 GB (720p HD)
3.44 GB (SD)
Additional terms
Terms of transactionWindows | Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 or later |
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Xbox | Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox One S, Xbox One X |
Mobile | Windows Phone 8, Windows Phone 8.1, Windows 10 or later |